Coffee Break Friday: Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee II – The Revenge

Welcome back!

A couple of months ago, I asked:

Is Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee really worth it?

At the time, the answer I came up with was that it was not. I was ready to write it off as another coffee which couldn’t live up to the hype. That was when Jerry from Jamaica Blue Mountain Traders dropped me a comment that I may have had a bad batch and that I should really take a look at their coffee.

After agreeing to give their coffee a try, I received a package of their Dauphin Kaffee Peaberry Roast on Demand, and opened it up. The scent of the beans were a welcome surprise. When I had opened the last Jablum bag, they really didn’t have too strong of aroma, these practically screamed for attention. A very good start. But, the true test would come after putting them in the burr grinder and then through my brewer.

Wow, what a difference. This coffee was excellent. It had a mild taste, with a faint sweet and bitter flavor, but the two balanced each other perfectly. There were some citrus overtones, but not enough to overpower the core flavor of the coffee.

In the espresso machine, I found the coffee performed just as well as through the brewer with the difference that it was sweeter. However. this natural sweetness didn’t affect the flavor and instead offset the harsh bitterness you’d normally find in some lesser roasts.

Just to have a control group, I had my sister pick up another bag of Jablum coffee and see how it stacked up once more. There was no comparison. Even with a newer batch, the Jablum coffee didn’t stack up against the Dauphin coffee. Then again, the Dauphin coffee was a peaberry roast so it was going to be higher quality but even putting that aside the difference in taste was night and day.

So, at the end of everything, I can now say that some of the hype for Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is indeed justified, but like with all coffee, it depends on who roasted it and what the quality of the bean is. Sometimes taste can be a subjective thing, so the best thing I can recommend is for you to go and get your own bag and see for yourself.